Report Claims Keyboard-Equipped BlackBerry Q10 is a Miserable Failure

BlackBerry fans hoping the company's latest keyboard-based smartphone might steer the company clear of a looming iceberg may be disappointed to discover that sales of the device haven't quite worked out the way the company hoped.The Wall Street Journal is reporting that sales of the BlackBerry Q10 "have been dismal" in the U.S. and Canada, key markets where the company's keyboard-equipped smartphones have traditional been a stronghold.

Earlier this year, the Q10 was hailed as BlackBerry's best chance for survival -- a smartphone with the company's coveted hardware keyboard, but running its latest BlackBerry 10 operating system previously only found on handsets with a software-based keyboard.

But retailers say the device was a non-event in terms of getting customers into the store, and the few units that did actually sell wound up eventually being returned.

"We saw virtually no demand for the Q10 and eventually returned most to our equipment vendor," lamented Chris Jourdan, the owners of 16 Wireless Zone stores in the midwest.

The BlackBerry Q10 also failed to ignite the trade-in market, where previous handset models are often an indication of how "hot" an incoming device is. NextWorth, one of several companies who handles used electronics trade-ins, noted that BlackBerry fans largely skipped the opportunity to upgrade this time around.

The report is just the latest bad news for BlackBerry, the onetime smartphone Goliath said to be currently weighing a possible sale of the company.